Fire stopping in Catmore
Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps in Catmore. CHAS accredited and fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee.
- Builders’ foam or ordinary silicone in compartment walls
- Unsealed penetrations discovered above suspended ceilings
- Damaged fire seals in risers and voids
Fire stopping for businesses in Catmore
Photos, a specification or a quick description of the joints is enough to start a fixed quote.
Fire stopping for commercial buildings in Catmore
It helps to set out our role at the start. Deciding the specification sits with the designer, the fire engineer and building control; sign-off sits with them too. What we bring is careful installation of the specified sealant, to the maker’s guidance. We work on small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows, linear gaps at wall heads and service gaps in risers, and the failures we’re asked to look at most are fire sealant pulled out of the opening and improvised or mixed-product fire seals. A single leaking joint is often how a building in Catmore first comes to us: we look at the rest while we’re there and tell you what we find.
Barn and farm-building conversions near places like Catmore often combine new partitions with old walls. Where a pipe or cable passes through a fire-resisting wall, the seal must match the tested detail: product, substrate, gap and depth.
Work we carry out comes with a 12-month guarantee. If an installation problem shows up, phone 01277 525 020 or email drawings and photos and we’ll arrange a return visit.
- Where
- Catmore (RG20)
- Region
- West Berkshire
- Cover
- 12 months on every job
- Quotes
- A fixed quote before we start
- Phone
- 01277 525 020
- Last updated
- 3 November 2026
Where services cross fire walls in Catmore
In England, Approved Document B covers fire stopping of openings and penetrations. From 2 September 2029, BS 476 references are being taken out of Approved Document B, leaving BS EN 13501-2 classification as the route, subject to the Government’s transitional arrangements. We install whatever has been specified, to the product’s tested detail. Catmore lies roughly 54 miles out from central London. Office refits around the commuter belt bring new cabling through fire-resisting walls.
Around Catmore, we install fire-rated and intumescent sealant to the product’s tested detail wherever it is the specified product.
Catmore is about 6 miles south-east of Wantage, in West Berkshire. We cover Catmore, and jobs here get the same fixed quote and 12-month guarantee as anywhere else. 140 places across West Berkshire fall within our area, Catmore among them. There’s a separate page for Reading, roughly 17 miles from Catmore.
Business premises anywhere in RG20 are within our area for service penetrations. We also cover Farnborough (2 miles north-west), Brightwalton (2 miles west), Stanmore (2 miles south-east), Brightwalton Green (2 miles south-west) and West Ilsley (2 miles north-east). Further afield, our area takes in Newbury (8 miles south), Thatcham (9 miles south-east), Burghfield Common (15 miles south-east), Speenhamland (8 miles south), Hungerford (10 miles south-west) and Fords Farm (15 miles east).
What sealant work can’t fix
Sealant solves a lot, but not everything, and we’re upfront when that’s the case. These need a different solution:
- Openings that need collars, wraps, batts or boards rather than sealant
- Fire doors, dampers or other fire safety equipment
- Deciding what a wall or floor needs, which belongs to the designer
If in doubt, speak to us on 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings and we will say what we think before you book.
Joints and surfaces we work on
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Cable penetrations
- Pipe penetrations
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Service gaps in risers
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
How a job runs
Before we leave any area, we remove the tape, clean down and inspect every joint, ready for your sign-off. Where the sealant needs time to cure before use, we tell you and sign the area. Smaller jobs around Catmore can be grouped with others nearby. You will have a fixed quote before work starts.
- We start with your penetration schedule, drawings or specification.
- Access, permits and the order of areas are agreed with the site team.
- Each opening is checked for wall or floor type, service, gap and depth.
- Foam, ordinary sealant and debris come out first.
- The specified backing and sealant go in to depth and are finished neatly.
- Anything outside the detail is reported to you rather than sealed.
Before we start on site
- Let us know about inductions and permits
- Have the specification and drawings to hand
- Point out any areas we must not close
Request a quote
The quickest route to a quote is a few photographs and the site postcode. Upload them with the quote form, or give us a call on 01277 525 020 or email drawings and photos if you’d rather talk the job through.
Related advice
Catmore: questions and answers
How does the removal of BS 476 from Approved Document B affect fire-rated sealing in Catmore?
References to BS 476 classes are being removed from Approved Document B from 2 September 2029, after which BS EN 13501-2 classification is the route, subject to transitional arrangements. Our part doesn’t change: the specified product, to its tested detail.
Do you design the fire stopping for buildings in Catmore?
No. Fire-stopping design and sign-off belong to the designer, principal designer, fire engineer or building control. Our part is installing the specified product to its tested detail, and telling you if the detail calls for something other than sealant.
How much does the work cost?
Each job is quoted on its own details. To get one, call 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings.
Can you work while the building is occupied?
Yes, with some planning. Tell us your site hours and access windows and we will plan around them.
Can one quote cover more than one building?
Yes. Multi-site work and planned programmes are a core part of the service, planned site by site to suit how each building is used.
Can you work to our specification?
Yes. Send it with your enquiry, and we’ll price the work to it.
What’s the quickest route to a quote?
There are four steps: send details, get a quote, we seal, guaranteed. The first step only needs photos and a postcode.
Why act early in Catmore
Sealing behind the M&E trades area by area beats a sweep at the end. Openings are visible, access is open and nothing has to be taken down. Converted and older buildings near places like Catmore tend to move, and aged sealant cracks. A sealant with the right movement capability, correctly sized, lasts far better.
Larger quantities, tricky access or phasing all shape the price. Site requirements like inductions and permits play a part as well, along with the time of year for external work.
Why choose Mastic Doctor in Catmore
- One contact handling all your sites
- A fixed quote before work starts
- Fully insured
- Commercial sealant work since 2005
Take a look at how commercial sealant jobs are priced or our accreditations and insurance.
General trades versus a specialist
Certain joints really need a specialist: for instance fire-rated seals that must match a tested detail, trafficked floor joints and external movement joints. Getting these wrong typically costs more in the end than doing them right.
For most general trades, sealant is a sideline. A specialist prepares properly, controls joint depth and picks a product with the right movement class, which is what makes a joint last.
When to call us in Catmore
Some seals fail because the wrong product went in: expanding foam or a general-purpose sealant pushed into a gap to tidy it. The opening looks sealed but has no fire test evidence behind it.
What tends to prompt an enquiry:
- Builders’ foam or ordinary silicone in compartment walls
- Unsealed joints where partitions meet the slab
- Fire stopping installed outside its tested range
- Damaged fire seals in risers and voids
For a building such as Church of St Margaret, new heating or data runs are the usual reason penetrations need sealing.
What to look for in a quote
- The named product and why it was chosen
- How the existing material will be dealt with
- How joint depth will be controlled
- How long is the guarantee, and what does it include?
Building owners, agents and FMs in Catmore
Hospitality, education, healthcare, office and retail clients come to us directly as well. The work is planned around how the building runs, so guests, pupils, patients or staff are disturbed as little as possible.
We work for building owners and managing agents on sealant work across single buildings or whole portfolios. One quote can cover more than one site, which keeps the paperwork simple.